The Blue Devil basketball baton has officially been passed to Darin Johnson, and he's ready to run with it.

Johnson, a Glenwood, Minn., native, was officially named the new head men's basketball coach at Riverland Community College on Thursday, April 10, replacing David Lillemon who resigned in March after 16 seasons at the helm.

"We are elated to welcome Darin on board as our men's basketball coach," said Lillemon, Riverland's men's athletic director. "His credentials are outstanding and he will bring a wealth of enthusiasm and knowledge to Riverland athletics."

Johnson visited the Austin campus on Thursday afternoon, meeting with the team's three returning players in hopes of preparing the program for the upcoming season.

"This is the first head coaching opportunity that I've had and I'm excited about the opportunity," Johnson said. "I've been waiting for a situation like this one, and all the hard work that I've put into it and all the experience that I've gained will get an opportunity to pay off, so I'm very excited about the opportunity."

Johnson has spent the last four years as an assistant men's basketball coach at Dakota State University in Madison, S.D. There he was responsible for player recruitment and development among other tasks. Those facets of his past will come in handy in his future in Austin.

"We've got three returners and no commitments right now from anyone," Johnson said. "I've been on the phone pretty much non-stop just trying to accumulate names so I can find out who to call, and hopefully they're still looking for a place to go.

"This weekend is a big weekend for me recruiting-wise."

Johnson brings with him nine years of experience as an assistant coach at various levels. After playing for two seasons at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Johnson graduated from St. Cloud State and was a graduate assistant for three years for the Huskies.

During his college years, Johnson was an assistant coach at Monticello High School and a volunteer assistant at Bemidji State.

Johnson has spent the past two seasons as the assistant at Dakota State and is anxious to get underway as Riverland's head coach.

"The opportunity to be a head coach is certainly something that is very appealing," Johnson said. "I definitely want to be in a bigger community. That was appealing to me when being out in the middle of South Dakota was maybe something that was not as appealing as here in Austin."

Johnson met with the team's only three returning players from this season's 6-18 team. Austin High School graduate Adam Kasper, Calvin Morris and Jeff Roemhildt had the opportunity to hear what direction Johnson intends to take the Blue Devils.

"There are two things I really believe in and that our program is going to stand for," he said. "One is constant improvement in the three areas of your life as a student, as an athlete, and academically. I think it's very important that you have all three of those areas be an equal part of your life.

"And the second one, no matter what we do, we want to try and make sure we do everything that's going to best serve the program."

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at :mailto:sports@austindailyherald.com.